Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Largest Lutheran denomination in the United States

"ELCA" redirects here. For other uses, see ELCA (disambiguation).

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Classification| Mainline Protestant
Orientation| Lutheran
Polity| Modified episcopal polity with some powers reserved to the congregation as in congregationalism
Presiding Bishop| Elizabeth Eaton
Associations|

* Lutheran World Federation
* Christian Churches Together
* Churches Uniting in Christ
* National Council of Churches
* World Council of Churches
* Churches Beyond Borders

Region| United States and Caribbean
Headquarters| Lutheran Center, 8765 W Higgins Rd, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Origin| Constituting Convention on April 30, 1987, in Columbus, Ohio,[1] operations began January 1, 1988[2]
Merger of|

* Lutheran Church in America
* American Lutheran Church
* Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches

Separations|

* Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (2001)
* North American Lutheran Church (2010)

Congregations| 8,498 (2023)[3]
Members| 2,793,899 baptized members (2023)[3]
Missionaries| About 150 fully supported, including nine evangelists[4]
Official website| www.elca.org

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of December 31, 2023, it has approximately 2.79 million baptized members in 8,498 congregations.[3]

In 2015, Pew Research estimated that 1.4 percent of the U.S. population self-identifies with the ELCA.[5] It is the seventh-largest Christian denomination by reported membership[6] and the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.[7] The next two largest Lutheran denominations are the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) (with over 1.7 million baptized members[8]) and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) (with approximately 340,000 members).[9] There are also many smaller Lutheran church bodies in the United States, some formed by dissidents to the major 1988 merger. Its members are largely descendants of Scandinavians and Germans who emigrated from countries where Lutheranism was the state religion.

The ELCA belongs to the World Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, and the Lutheran World Federation. It is in full communion with the Episcopal Church, Moravian Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America, United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church.[10]

## History

[edit]

Part of a series on

Lutheranism in the
United States

Heritage of Mainline Protestantism and the Confessing Movement

* Augsburg Lutheran Churches
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
* Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
* Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ
* North American Lutheran Church

Heritage of the Synodical Conference of North America

* Association of Confessional Lutheran Churches
* Church of the Lutheran Confession
* Concordia Lutheran Conference
* Evangelical Lutheran Synod
* Independent Lutheran Diocese
* Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod
* Lutheran Churches of the Reformation
* Orthodox Lutheran Confessional Conference
* Protes'tant Conference
* Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

Heritage of the LFC or ALC

* American Association of Lutheran Churches

* Association of Free Lutheran Congregations

* Evangelical Lutheran Conference & Ministerium of North America

* Conservative Lutheran Association

* Lutheran Ministerium and Synod – USA

Heritage of the Awakening

* Apostolic Lutheran Church of America

* Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America

* Laestadian Lutheran Church

* Old Apostolic Lutheran Church

High Church Revival

* Evangelical Catholic Church

* Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America

* Lutheran Church - International

* v
* t
* e

Various Lutheran church bodies in the United States formed resulting from immigration waves from various countries. For instance, members of the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) (centered in New York City, New York, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) were largely descendants of immigrants in the colonial and mid-19th century period. The American Lutheran Church (ALC), with headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was influenced by descendants of the waves of Scandinavian and German immigration to the Midwest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In their countries of origin, especially in Scandinavia and northern Germany, the Lutheran churches were the state churches. As Lutherans emigrated to America, they initially saw themselves as part of these churches, though they lacked the same organization and formal status in the New World. Over time Lutherans formed church organizations in America. The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC), which withdrew from the LCMS in 1975, comprised many congregations throughout the lower Midwest. Over time, church associations' national or ethnic identification lessened as descendants assimilated into general American society. Members across organizations began to have more in common as areas of the country urbanized and more people made their livings in suburbs and cities, rather than in rural farming areas. The ALC and LCA were already the result of earlier mergers among associated congregations once related to ethnic immigrant groups.[11]

In 1970, a survey by Strommen et al. found that 79% of Lutheran Church in America clergy, 62% of American Lutheran Church clergy, and 58% of Lutheran Church Missouri Synod clergy agreed that "a merger of all Lutheran groups in the United States into one organization is desirable".[12] A group of congregations left the LCMS after 1975 as it became dominated by theological and social conservatives; they formed the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC).[11]

After several years of discussion, the LCA, ALC, and AELC formally agreed in 1982 to unite. Implementing this agreement took longer: the new Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) was effective on January 1, 1988, creating the largest Lutheran church body in the U.S. The ALC and LCA had been formed by previous mergers.[11][13]

### American Lutheran Church

[edit]

In 1960, the American Lutheran Church formed as a merger of the earlier ALC of 1930, largely members of German heritage; the United Evangelical Lutheran Church (UELC), with members of Danish background; and the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC), made up of members of Norwegian background. The Lutheran Free Church (LFC) joined three years later in 1963.

The ALC brought approximately 2.25 million members into the new ELCA. It was the most theologically conservative of the forming bodies, having a heritage of Old Lutheran theology.[14] It had been in fellowship for a decade with the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and officially held to biblical inerrancy in its constitution. It seldom enforced that stance by means of heresy trials or other doctrinal discipline. Its geographic center was in the Upper Midwest, especially Minnesota. Its headquarters and publisher (Augsburg Publishing House) were based on South Fifth Street in Minneapolis and one of its several seminaries was in neighboring St. Paul. Its denominational magazine was The Lutheran Standard, published in Minneapolis. Some ALC congregations chose not to join the 1988 merger and instead formed the American Association of Lutheran Churches.

### Lutheran Church in America

[edit]

Evangelical Lutheran Church (Frederick, Maryland) (1752)

The Lutheran Church in America (LCA) was created in 1962 by a merger among the United Lutheran Church in America (created in 1918 by an earlier merger of three German Lutheran synods in the eastern U.S.); Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, of Swedish ethnicity with some dating to the colonial era; the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America; and American Evangelical Lutheran Church, made up of ethnic Danish families.

The LCA was the slightly larger partner and brought approximately 2.85 million members into the ELCA. Its administrative offices were in the Church House, a former townhouse mansion on Madison Avenue in New York City. Its publishing house, Fortress Press, was on Queen Lane in northwest Philadelphia, and produced the church magazine, The Lutheran. Its demographic focus was on the East Coast, centered on Pennsylvania). It also had large numbers in the Midwest and some presence in the South Atlantic States. There are notable exceptions, but LCA-background churches tend to emphasize liturgical expression more than the ALC-background churches. Its theological orientation ranged from moderately liberal to neo-orthodox, with tendencies toward conservative Pietism in some rural and small-town congregations. Its theology originated in Neo-Lutheranism.[14]

### The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches

[edit]

In 1976, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) was formed by 250 congregations that had left the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) in a schism precipitated by disputes over biblical inerrancy and ecumenism. These were part of the overall fundamentalist–modernist controversy that had been roiling American Protestant churches for several decades. In 1969 the LCMS had elected more conservative leadership under President J. A. O. Preus II, replacing moderate incumbent Oliver Harms. The new leadership opened an investigation at the synod's Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, about the faculty's commitment to inerrancy in biblical interpretation. It also opposed ecumenism.

As a result, most of the faculty and student body walked out and established a separate institution named "Concordia Seminary-in-Exile" (but usually referred to as "Seminex"). The AELC formed in 1976. It brought approximately 100,000 members into the ELCA. Its ethnic heritage was primarily from German immigrants of the mid-19th century, who came to the U.S. after the revolutions in various principalities. Many were abolitionists and Unionists during the American Civil War. By the 1980s, the AELC theology generally resembled the LCA's.

## Organization

[edit]

ELCA's then-Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson speaking at the inauguration of a new Augsburg College president in 2006

See also: List of ELCA synods

The ELCA is headed by a presiding bishop, who is elected by the Churchwide Assembly for a six-year term (it was a four-year term until 1995). To date, four people have been elected to the position of presiding bishop of the ELCA. Herbert W. Chilstrom served as the first presiding bishop from 1987 to 1995. He was followed by H. George Anderson (1995–2001), who had previously been the president of Luther College. The third presiding bishop was Mark Hanson, who is the past president of the Lutheran World Federation, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Hanson began his tenure as bishop of the Church in 2001 and was re-elected in August 2007 for a second term. Elizabeth Eaton was elected presiding bishop in August 2013 and took office on November 1, 2013. She was reelected for a second term in 2019. In November 2023, Michael Burk was appointed Presiding Bishop Pro Tempore by the ELCA Church Council following a request by Bishop Eaton to take a 4–6 month leave of absence.[15]

In addition, the body of the Church Council is composed of representatives elected for a stated number of years from the various synods. These meet regularly with legislative powers in between sessions of the Churchwide Assemblies.

The Conference of Bishops, which meets at least twice a year, is formed of 66 bishops (the 65 elected synodical bishops, together with the presiding bishop), plus the ELCA church secretary. It is consulted by the presiding bishop and the Church Council for advice on matters of doctrine, faith and order, and ecumenical relations. The ELCA website states that "While primarily advisory, the role of the Conference of Bishops is significant within the life of this church."[16]

A map of the nine ELCA regions. The Slovak Zion Synod falls under Region 7 and the Bahamas and the Caribbean under Region 9.

The ELCA is divided into 65 synods, one of which is non-geographical (the Slovak Zion Synod) and 64 regional synods in the United States and the Caribbean, each headed by a synodical bishop and council; these synods are in turn grouped into nine regions.[17] Within the ELCA the term synod refers to the middle judicatory, which is referred to in some other denominations as "presbyteries", "districts", "conferences" or "dioceses" (the most ancient and traditional term in Christianity). In other Christian churches, the term "synod" is used for a meeting or conference of ministers such as priests or bishops of a diocese, province (region) or nation or, in some Protestant churches, as the term for their annual governing convention. Some Evangelical Lutheran denominations overseas continue to use the ancient church title of "diocese".

Outside of the United States, ELCA also has congregations in the Caribbean region (Bahamas which is combined with Florida in one synod; Bermuda, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands); and one congregation in the border city of Windsor, Ontario, a member of the Slovak Zion Synod. Before 1986, some of the congregations that form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada were part of the ELCA's predecessor churches.

Within the church structure are divisions addressing many programs and ministries. Among these are support for global mission, outdoor ministries, campus ministries, social ministries, and education. They include the Lutheran Peace Fellowship, Lutheran Women's Caucus, Lutheran Volunteer Corps, and the Lutheran Youth Organization ELCA Youth Gathering (formerly known in predecessor denominations as the Luther League). They cooperate with an ecumenical inter-Lutheran college/university student organization known as the Lutheran Student Movement-USA founded in 1922 and reorganized in 1969. The denominational publishing house is Augsburg Fortress, and the official denominational magazine is Living Lutheran. ELCA predecessor bodies established twenty-six colleges and universities, which are now affiliated with the ELCA and a large number of associated theological seminaries. Some of these are associated with neighboring universities or theological consortia.

Most local congregations are legally independent non-profit corporations within the state where they are located and own their own property. Governing practice within the congregation ranges from congregational voters' assemblies or annual and special congregational meetings to elder-and-council-led, to congregations where the senior pastor wields great, if informal, power (more common in larger churches).[18]

### Churchwide Assemblies

[edit]

The Churchwide Assembly consists of elected lay and ordained voting members. The Churchwide Assembly met biennially in odd-numbered years until 2013. Between meetings of the Churchwide Assembly, the ELCA Church Council governs the denomination, along with the advisory Conference of Bishops.

At the Assembly, elections are held for general officers of the Church such as the presiding bishop, vice president and secretary, budgets are adopted, social statements examined and approved, and various other church business enacted, along with reports made and ecumenical visitors acknowledged. A constitutional amendment was passed in 2011 to change the Assembly to one meeting on a triennial basis after 2013. The Assembly was known as the "General Convention" in the ALC and the "Biennial Convention" in the LCA.

* 1987 Columbus, Ohio (ELCA Constituting Convention)
* 1989 Chicago, Illinois
* 1991 Orlando, Florida
* 1993 Kansas City, Missouri
* 1995 Minneapolis, Minnesota
* 1997 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* 1999 Denver, Colorado
* 2001 Indianapolis, Indiana
* 2003 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
* 2005 Orlando, Florida
* 2007 Chicago, Illinois
* 2009 Minneapolis, Minnesota
* 2011 Orlando, Florida
* 2013 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* 2016 New Orleans, Louisiana
* 2019 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
* 2022 Columbus, Ohio
* 2025 Phoenix, Arizona

## Beliefs

[edit]

### Lutheranism

[edit]

Lutheranism is associated with the theology of Martin Luther, with its official confessional writings found in the Book of Concord. The ELCA accepts the unaltered Augsburg Confession (not the variata) as a true witness to the Gospel. The ELCA is less conservative than the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), the second and third largest Lutheran bodies in the United States, respectively.[19] Most ELCA Lutherans are theologically moderate-to-liberal, although there is a sizable conservative minority. Other Lutheran bodies in the U.S. tend to hold more strictly to Confessional Lutheranism.

### Differences within the ELCA

[edit]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Evangelical Lutheran Church in America" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

Constituent congregations of the ELCA hold many differences of opinion, and have had disputes over social and doctrinal issues. In part, this is related to the history of having assimilated three different Lutheran church bodies, each with its own factions and divisions, but also to responses to changing social conditions in the United States. Old intra-group conflicts were inherited and new inter-group ones were created. Differences on issues usually reflect theological disputes between various parties.

The ELCA is a very broad denomination. It contains groups of socially and/or theologically conservative or liberal factions with differing emphases on various topics such as liturgical renewal,[20][21] confessional Lutheranism, charismatic revivalism, moderate to liberal theology, and liberal activism. The socially liberal segment of the ELCA is represented by independent organizations such as ReconcilingWorks, Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, and the Evangelical and Ecumenical Women's Caucus. What is now known as the Lutheran Coalition For Renewal (Lutheran CORE) is made up ELCA congregations as well as socially conservative congregations that left the ELCA after it (the ELCA) decided to accept openly gay clergy for ordination and calling. Adherents of Evangelical Catholicism practice High Church Lutheranism and include the members of the Society of the Holy Trinity. Those oriented toward Confessional Lutheranism, Evangelicalism, or an admixture of the two include the WordAlone network. Members of the Charismatic Movement include congregations and pastors associated with the Alliance of Renewal Churches and some ethnic congregations. Additionally, there has been a recent growth in Franciscan spirituality in the ELCA through the Order of Lutheran Franciscans.

### Scripture

[edit]

The ELCA constitution states: "This church accepts the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life."[22]

ELCA clergy tend not to subscribe to a doctrine of biblical inerrancy, but see validity in various scholarly methods of analysis to help in understanding the Bible,[23] a process sometimes called Higher Criticism.[24]

### Sacraments

[edit]

Like other Lutheran church bodies, the ELCA confesses two sacraments: Communion (or the Eucharist) and Holy Baptism (including infant baptism). Guidance on sacramental practices in the ELCA is provided in The Use of the Means of Grace, a statement adopted by the 1997 Churchwide Assembly.[25]

In addition to the two sacraments, ELCA churches also practice acts which are orders. These include confirmation, ordination, anointing the sick, confession and absolution, and marriage.

With respect to the eucharist or the Lord's Supper, the ELCA holds to the Lutheran doctrine of the sacramental union, that is, that Christ's body and blood is truly present "in, with and under" the bread and wine.[26] All communicants orally receive not only bread and wine, but also the same body and blood of Christ that was given for them on the cross.[27] Members of other denominations sometimes refer to this as a belief in consubstantiation. Lutherans, however, reject the philosophical explanation of consubstantiation, preferring to consider the presence of the Lord's body and blood as mysterious rather than explainable by human philosophy. The Lutheran belief in the holy mystery character of the consecrated bread and wine is more similar to that of Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief than to the views of other Protestants. In contrast, some Protestant church bodies doubt or openly deny that the true body and blood of Christ is eaten in the Lord's Supper.[citation needed]

Unlike certain other American Lutheran church bodies, the ELCA practices open communion, permitting all persons baptized in the name of the Trinity with water to receive communion. Some congregations also commune baptized infants, similarly to Eastern Orthodox practice. The ELCA encourages its churches to celebrate the Eucharist at all services, although some churches alternate between non-eucharistic services and those containing the Lord's Supper.

### Social issues

[edit]

The ELCA's stances on social issues are outlined in its Social Statements and Messages.[28] Social Statements, which are usually, but not always, adopted by a two-thirds majority of a Churchwide Assembly, have been adopted on the following topics:

* Abortion (1991)
* Church in Society (1991)
* Death Penalty (1991)
* Economic Life (1999)
* Education (2007)
* Environment (1993)
* Genetics (2011)
* Health and Health Care (2003)
* Human Sexuality (2009)
* Peace (1995)
* Race, Ethnicity & Culture (1993)
* Migrant Crisis (2019)

#### Role of women

[edit]

The ELCA ordains women as pastors, a practice that all three of its predecessor churches adopted in the 1970s (The ALC and LCA in 1970, the AELC in 1976). Some women have become bishops. The first female bishop, April Ulring Larson, was elected in the La Crosse area synod in 1992. In 2018, the ELCA elected its first African-American female bishops: Patricia Davenport in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Viviane Thomas-Breitfeld in South-Central Wisconsin.[29] In 2013, Elizabeth Eaton became the first woman to be elected presiding bishop of the ELCA. The most recent ELCA hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, includes alternate gender-neutral invocations and benedictions in all settings. All of the psalms and many of the hymns and parts of the liturgy have been altered to remove masculine pronouns referring to God.[30] In 2000, the Cooperative Clergy Study Project surveyed 681 ELCA pastors and found that 95 percent of ELCA clergy thought that all clergy positions should be open to women, while 2 percent disagreed.[31]

Augustana Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C., is a "Reconciling in Christ" congregation, meaning they welcome all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

#### Ordination of LGBT clergy and blessings of same-sex marriages

[edit]

Main article: 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly

On August 21, 2009, the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis voted to allow congregations to call and ordain gays and lesbians in committed monogamous relationships to serve as clergy.[32] By a vote of 559 to 451, delegates approved a resolution declaring that the church would find a way for people in "publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships" to serve as official ministers. Congregations that do not wish to call these persons to ordained ministry are not required by these policy changes to do so.[33]

In reaction, Lutheran CORE, which opposed the decision, stated that it would "initiate a process that we hope will lead to a reconfiguration of North American Lutheranism."[34] In February 2010, Lutheran CORE announced that it would secede from the ELCA and form a new denomination to be named the North American Lutheran Church (NALC).[35] As of 2008[update], 37 percent of ELCA pastors were found to support same-sex marriage.[36]

The ELCA, in removing sexual orientation as a bar for candidacy in the professional ministry, joined most of its Lutheran sister churches in Europe, including in Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and Austria.[37] The ELCA is also among a growing number of Christian churches in the United States to make this move, which include the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the United Methodist Church.

In contrast, the board of one of the ELCA's partner churches, the Evangelical Mekane Yesus Fellowship in North America, voted in October 2009 to declare disunity with the ELCA. A press release stated that the board was no longer "in good conscience" "able to commune and partner with ELCA Church that has willfully disobeyed the word of God and regrettably departed from the clear instructions of the Holy Scriptures" that "marriage is only between a man and a woman". This was followed by the general synod of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus also breaking links with the ELCA.[38]

In April 2010, the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America adopted revisions to ministry policy documents to bring them in line with the August 2009 vote, as well as adding sections on integrity, substance abuse and addiction. The release noted that the revised ministry policies would be posted on the church's website by the end of April 2010.[39]

Since August 2009, according to the office of the ELCA secretary, over 600 congregations have left the ELCA through January 2011. Income declined, with revenue of $66.7 million in 2010, down from $76.5 million in 2009.[40]

On May 31, 2013, Guy Erwin became the first openly gay man to be chosen bishop in the ELCA when he was elected to a six-year term as bishop of the Southwest California Synod.[41] In 2015, the denomination ordained, officially, the first transgender pastor.[42]

Also in 2015, after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationally in the US, the office of the presiding bishop released a letter informing members that each congregation is free to marry gay and lesbian couples or to choose not to do so.[43]

Since 2009 blessings of same-sex marriages are allowed in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.[44]

#### Creation and evolution

[edit]

The ELCA has not adopted an official position on creation or evolution, but there is general agreement on interpreting the Bible within its historical contexts and applying critical methods of research. In 2000, the Cooperative Clergy Study Project surveyed 681 ELCA pastors and found that 26 percent of ELCA clergy thought Scientific Creationism should be taught alongside evolution in biology classes, while 57 percent disagreed.[31]

#### Reproductive cloning

[edit]

The ELCA has not yet taken an official position regarding reproductive cloning. However, Task Force on Genetics of the church's "Church in Society" initiative is studying the theological and ethical issues that the world is likely to face in coming years as a result of Genetic Science. The task force has issued a draft report[45] for comment and discussion. The draft statement covers a wide range of topics, from genetic testing to GMOs. A section in this report which has been described by an independent reviewer as "a remarkably nuanced analysis and statement regarding a very complex scientific, social, and religious issue."[46] The task force recommends opposition to reproductive cloning, as almost all religious groups currently do. However, the main theological reasoning is unique. Lewis D. Eigen explains:[46]

> The argument they articulate is not the common but weak argument that it would be "offensive to God," "against the will of God" or "man encroaching into God's domain", but they observe that the clone would be denied the dignity of possessing a unique human genotype. This is an extremely interesting argument—that each and every human being has the right to his or her own uniqueness—particularly a unique genotype.

The draft statement further asserts that any clones that might be created should have full acceptance as human beings and access to rites of the church.

#### Abortion

[edit]

The issue of abortion is a matter of contention within the ELCA. In a Social Statement adopted in 1991,[47] the church set out its position on the matter as follows. The ELCA describes itself as "a community supportive of life", and encourages women to explore alternatives to abortion such as adoption. However, the Social Statement asserts that there are certain circumstances under which a decision to end a pregnancy can be "morally responsible". These include cases where the pregnancy "presents a clear threat to the physical life of the woman", situations where "the pregnancy occurs when both parties do not participate willingly in sexual intercourse", and "circumstances of extreme fetal abnormality, which will result in severe suffering and very early death of an infant." Regardless of the reason, the ELCA opposes abortion when "a fetus is developed enough to live outside a uterus with the aid of reasonable and necessary technology." The ELCA opposes "laws that deny access to safe and affordable services for morally justifiable abortions", and "laws that are primarily intended to harass those contemplating or deciding for an abortion." The statement emphasizes the prevention of circumstances leading to abortion, specifically encouraging "appropriate forms of sex education in schools, community pregnancy prevention programs, and parenting preparation classes." In 2000, the Cooperative Clergy Study Project found that one fifth of ELCA clergy favored banning abortion with a constitutional amendment.[48] Lutheran CORE, which represents theologically conservative members of ELCA, together with the North American Lutheran Church, through their Joint Commission an Theology and Doctrine, approved an official anti-abortion stance in the document "The Lord Is with You" – A Word of Counsel to the Church – The Sanctity of Nascent Life", on December 14, 2012.[49]

#### Euthanasia

[edit]

The ELCA official statement on "End of Life Decisions", adopted on November 9, 1992, disapproves euthanasia: "We oppose the legalization of physician-assisted death, which would allow the private killing of one person by another. Public control and regulation of such actions would be extremely difficult, if not impossible. The potential for abuse, especially of people who are most vulnerable, would be substantially increased."[50]

## Ministry

[edit]

ELCA ministers Richard and Bonnie Jensen

As a Lutheran church body, the ELCA professes belief in the "priesthood of all believers" as reflected in Martin Luther's To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, that all baptized persons have equal access to God and are all called to use their gifts to serve the body of Christ. Some people are called to "rostered ministry", or vocations of church leadership and service. After formation, theological training, and approval by local synods these people are "set aside, but not above" through ordination.[51]

An extensive "Study of Ministry" was embarked upon immediately after the 1988 merger as it became apparent that there were still discordant viewpoints and influences, especially by the pressure for a renewal of the office of deacon and its different manifestations to a more ancient and traditional view predating the Reformation into the earliest days of Christianity. The church makes a clear distinction between the deacon's "Ministry of Word and Service", and the Pastor's "Ministry of Word and Sacrament".

In the ELCA, ordination refers to the setting apart of pastors in the ministry of word and sacrament and deacons in the ministry of word and service (before 2019, consecration was the term for setting apart deacons). The similar rite for setting apart a bishop is called installation. These rites (for bishops, pastors, and deacons) are formal liturgies, with prayer and the laying-on of hands by the bishop, or by the presiding bishop in the case of the installation of a new bishop. Since 2000, the ELCA has required all installations of new bishops to include the laying-on of hands by not fewer than three bishops who are known to be within the historic line of apostolic succession.

### Deacons

[edit]

Deacons are called to a "Ministry of Word and Service".[52] The former lay rosters of deaconess, diaconal minister, and associate in ministry were all merged onto one roster, called Deacons, beginning in January 2017.

Deacons serve in many roles in and beyond congregations. At their ordination they may be presented with a towel and basin (in reference to Jesus washing the feet of his disciples) as a sign of their servant ministry, but the rite of ordination (published in January 2017) also allows for other symbols to be presented, reflecting the broad range of diaconal service. The rite states: "Other symbols of the ministry of word and service may be given, which may reflect a particular focus of the deacon's call and vocation, such as a vessel containing oil, a Bible, or the book of worship."[52]

### Pastors

[edit]

Pastors are called to the "Ministry of Word and Sacrament" and considered a "steward of the mysteries" of the Church (the means of grace). Pastors primarily serve congregations, but some serve in specialized ministries including those of hospital chaplain and military chaplain.

Pastors are ordinarily trained at one of seven ELCA seminaries located throughout the United States, although there are alternative paths for ordination to serve particular communities in which it is difficult to provide trained ministers or to allow rostering of clergy transferred from other denominations. Pastors generally hold a Bachelor of Arts degree or its equivalent, as well as a four-year master of divinity degree. They are required to learn biblical Hebrew and Greek, and spend at least a summer doing clinical pastoral education—an intensive program that gives them time to reflect on their pastoral craft, usually in a hospital setting. They are required to complete a one-year internship of full-time service in pastoral ministry.

### Bishops

[edit]

A bishop is a pastor called to serve (usually for a six-year term, which may be renewed) as the overseeing minister of a synod, or called to serve as the presiding bishop of the ELCA.

The Called to Common Mission agreement with the Episcopal Church in 2000 means that bishops are now installed according to Apostolic Succession. The fixed term of service as head of a synod has not changed, and there was no requirement in 2000 for existing ELCA bishops to be re-installed within the historic episcopate; instead, the apostolic succession was received as a sign of historic continuity, without denying the traditional Lutheran belief that the Church is truly present where the sacraments of baptism and holy communion are administered, regardless of the historic nature (or otherwise) of the ministry. Before 2000 a pastor had served in the office of bishop and then returned to being known simply as a pastor when service as a bishop had ended. Following the 2000 agreement a former bishop may still return to the work of a local pastor, but is often referred as bishop emeritus, even if not exercising that ministry.

## Worship

[edit]

Published in 2006, Evangelical Lutheran Worship is the main hymnal used in congregations. Some congregations, however, continue to use the older Lutheran Book of Worship published by the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship in 1978, and some even continue to use the older Service Book and Hymnal (SBH) of 1958 or its antecedent precedent-setting Common Service of 1888 which laid out a traditional American Lutheran liturgy and later was included in subsequent worship books and hymnals of various churches especially The Common Service Book of 1917, adopted by the old United Lutheran Church in America, a predecessor of the LCA to 1962, and The Lutheran Hymnal (TLH-1941) of the LCMS. Many congregations also make use of supplementary resources recently published as well besides those authorized for the LBW by Augsburg-Fortress, Publishers. Many ELCA congregations are classically liturgical churches. Their liturgy is rooted in the Western liturgical tradition, though recent international Lutheran-Orthodox dialog sessions have had some minimal influence on Lutheran liturgy. Because of its use of the Book of Concord of 1580, with the Confessions, documents and beliefs of the Reformers, including the Augsburg Confession of 1530, Luther's Small Catechism of 1529 and the Large Catechism and its retention of many pre-Reformation traditions, such as vestments, feast days and the celebration of the Church Year, the sign of the cross, and the usage of a church-wide liturgy, there are many aspects of the typical ELCA church that are very catholic and traditional in nature. Many Evangelical Lutheran churches use traditional vestments (cassock, surplice, stole for services of the Word or non-Eucharistic liturgies or alb, cincture, stole, chasuble (pastor) or dalmatic (deacon), cope (processions) for Eucharists (Mass, Holy Communion), etc.). On special rare occasions even a bishop's cross/crozier and mitre (bishop's headpiece) have been used to designate the ancient robes and traditions of the Church originating in Roman times of which Luther and his fellow Reformers like Philip Melanchthon considered as "adiaphora" or of permissive use. Since the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, most major parts of the ELCA's popular liturgies are worded exactly like the English language Mass of 1970 of the Roman Catholic Church. Many ELCA congregations use informal styles of worship or a blend of traditional and contemporary liturgical forms.

Springing from its revered heritage in the Lutheran chorale, the musical life of ELCA congregations is just as diverse as its worship. Johann Sebastian Bach, the most famous Lutheran composer and African songs are part of the heritage and breadth of Evangelical Lutheran church music. The musical portion of the Lutheran liturgy includes metrical psalter, metrical responses and hymns. Evangelical Lutheran Worship has ten settings of Holy Communion, for example. They range from plainsong chant, to Gospel, to Latin-style music. Congregations worship in many languages, many of which are represented in Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Other books used in ELCA churches include the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), and its supplements: With One Voice, This Far by Faith, and for Latino/Hispanic congregations: Libro de Liturgia y Cántico.

## Ecumenical relations

[edit]

The ELCA is a member of the National Council of Churches, the World Council of Churches, and Christian Churches Together and is a "partner in mission and dialog" with the Churches Uniting in Christ (formerly the Consultation on Church Union) formed in 1960.

### Full communion

[edit]

The Church maintains full communion relationships with other member churches of the Lutheran World Federation (which is a communion of 140 autonomous national/regional Lutheran church bodies in 78 countries around the world, representing nearly 66 million Christians) which was reorganized in 1948 from the earlier Lutheran World Convention of 1923. The ELCA has additionally full communion with the Episcopal Church, in which several congregations are jointly affiliated and hold mixed services. Also the ELCA has since established official full communion relationships with other Christian denominations such as the Moravian Church in America (with the exception of the Alaska Province), the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church, and The United Methodist Church.[53]

In 2013, the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus severed ties, including communion and pulpit fellowship, with the ELCA over the issue of practices and teachings connected with homosexuality.[54]

### Roman Catholic Church

[edit]

On October 31, 1999, in Augsburg, Germany, the Lutheran World Federation – of which the ELCA is a member – signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the Roman Catholic Church. The statement is an attempt to reconcile a historical theological divide between the two communions. The Declaration also states that the mutual condemnations between 16th century Lutherans and the Roman Catholic Church no longer apply to those that have signed onto the document. This was part of a series of "Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogues" have been taking place on an official basis every few years with statements and booklets on various theological topics published since 1966.

### Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod

[edit]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

The differences between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) arise from theological, historical, and cultural factors. The LCMS was briefly in fellowship with the former The American Lutheran Church, one of the ELCA predecessor bodies from 1969 to the early 1980s. Although the denominations cooperate through Lutheran World Relief and some university/college student ministries and military chaplaincy, they are not officially in communion with each other.

When the first Lutheran immigrants came to North America, they started church bodies that reflected, to some degree, the churches they left behind in Europe. Many maintained until the early 20th century their immigrant languages. They sought pastors from the "old country" until patterns for the education of clergy could be developed in North America. Eventually, seminaries and church colleges were established in many places to prepare pastors to serve congregations.

The earliest predecessor synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was constituted on August 25, 1748, in Philadelphia under the influence of Henry Muhlenberg, known as the "Patriarch of American Lutheranism". It was known as the Ministerium of Pennsylvania and Adjacent States. The earliest nationwide "synod" or "union of synods" was established in 1820 as the General Synod, followed later by the General Council. The ELCA was created in 1988 by the merging of the 2.85-million-member Lutheran Church in America (1962), 2.25-million-member The American Lutheran Church (1960), and the 100,000-member Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (1978). Previously, the ALC and LCA in the early 1960s came into being as a result of two mergers of eight smaller ethnically based Lutheran bodies composed of German, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Swedish, Slovak, Dutch, and others organized over 150 years. Some of these smaller ethnically based bodies previously had ecumenical arrangements involving the Missouri Synod.

The LCMS was established in 1847 by German immigrants fleeing the forced Prussian Union between Lutherans and Reformed church members in European Germany, who later settled in Perry County, Missouri. It grew through immigration, offspring, and church mergers while participating in some, but not all of the dialogues, controversies, and compromises which affected the various predecessors of the ELCA during the 19th and 20th Centuries. In the mid-1970s the Seminex controversy at their Concordia Seminary in St. Louis over use of historical-critical biblical study led to the formation of the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, later one of the predecessor bodies of the ELCA. The LCMS is the second largest Lutheran church body in North America with 1.8 million baptized members.

The ELCA tends to be more involved in ecumenical endeavors than the LCMS, which prohibits its clergy from worshiping in ecumenical gatherings. The ELCA is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches of Christ, USA. The LCMS rejects these as being unionist.

Both the LCMS and the ELCA have policies relating to clergy sexual misconduct. Perry C. Francis, a former ELCA pastor turned professor, along with psychology professor Tracy D. Baldo, published the results of their 1994 study of clergy sexual misconduct in the journal Pastoral Psychology. Out of 270 ELCA and 117 LCMS clergy surveyed, 13.7 percent of ELCA clergy and 4.3 percent of LCMS clergy admitted to sexual misconduct with another person since they began their ministry.[55]

Comparison to LCMS in ELCA's point of view according to the 1999 book Honoring Our Neighbor's Faith[56] These conclusions are not agreed upon by the WELS or LCMS.

Number  | LCMS  | ELCA

|
|

1  | Believe in triune God | Same
2  | Accept Lutheran Confessions as true teachings of biblical faith | Same
3  | Believe that God comes to us through the Word and the sacraments | Same
4  | Teach justification by grace through faith | Same
5  | Believe that the Bible should not be subject to higher critical methods | Many within the ELCA believe that the Bible can speak effectively through the use of higher critical study.
6  | Believe that the Bible restricts women from certain church positions including ordained ministry | Believes the Bible permits, even encourages, full participation by women in ordained ministry
7  | High degree of doctrinal agreement necessary before fellowship is possible  | Agreement on a more basic level is sufficient for fellowship.

## Demographics

[edit]

### Members

[edit]

The table below presents demographic data for two different years of the Pew Research Center U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, 2007 and 2014.[57] It is divided into several demographic categories like age, gender, marital status, etc. The categories have percentages out of 100 for 2007 and 2014, along with a column indicating the percent change (±).

Demographic[57] | 2007
(%) | 2014
(%) | ±
(%)

|
|
|

Age | 18–29 | 8 | 12 |  +4
30–49 | 36 | 27 |  −9
50–64 | 29 | 30 |  +1
65+ | 27 | 31 |  +4
Gender | Male | 44 | 44 |  no change
Female | 56 | 56 |  no change
Marital status | Never married | 11 | 16 |  +5
Married | 63 | 62 |  −1
Cohabitation | 3 | 4 |  +1
Divorced or separated | 10 | 9 |  −1
Widowed | 13 | 9 |  −4
Parent of a child under 18 | Yes | 30 | 24 |  −6
No | 70 | 76 |  +6
Race and
ethnicity | White alone | 97 | 96 |  −1
Black alone | 1 | 2 |  +1
Asian alone | 1 | 1 |  no change
Other race alone | 1 | 1 |  no change
Hispanic and Latino | 1 | 1 |  no change
Immigrant status | Immigrant | 3 | 4 |  +1
Second gen. | 6 | 8 |  +2
Third gen. or higher | 90 | 89 |  −1
Region | Northeast | 19 | — | —
Midwest | 51 | — | —
South | 16 | — | —
West | 14 | — | —
Highest
educational
attainment | Less than high school | 6 | 31 |  −13
High school | 38
Some college | 26 | 33 |  +7
Bachelor's degree | 19 | 21 |  +2
Post-graduate | 11 | 15 |  +4
Household income | Less than $30,000 | 24 | 19 |  −5
$30,000–49,999 | 24 | 22 |  −2
$50,000–74,999 | 35 | 32 |  −3
$100,000 or more | 17 | 26 |  +9

### Beliefs, practices, and views

[edit]

The following table compares beliefs, practices, or views of members of ELCA across two years, 2007 and 2014.[57] Each row represents a specific belief, practice, or view. Columns show the percentages for each year and the change between them. Each entry is broken down into different responses. For example, in the "Do you believe in God or a universal spirit?" row, responses are categorized as "Yes, absolutely certain", "Yes, fairly certain", etc. The percentage of respondents who chose each response for each year is displayed, along with the change in percent from 2007 to 2014.

Belief, practice, or view[57] | 2007
(%) | 2014
(%) | ±
(%)

|
|
|

Do you believe in God or a universal spirit? | Yes, absolutely certain | 77 | 67 |  −10
Yes, fairly certain | 19 | 28 |  +9
Yes, not too or at all certain | 2 | 3 |  +1
No, do not believe | <1 | 1 |  no change
Don't know, refused, or other | 1 | 1 |  no change
Importance of religion | Very important | 62 | 58 |  −4
Somewhat important | 32 | 34 |  +2
Not too important | 4 | 7 |  +3
Not at all important | 1 | 1 |  no change
Don't know | <1 | <1 |  no change
Attendance at religious services | Weekly | 46 | 35 |  −11
Monthly/few times a year | 43 | 50 |  +7
Seldom or never | 10 | 14 |  +4
Don't know | <1 | <1 |  no change
Belief in Heaven | Believe | 83 | 85 |  +2
Don't believe | 8 | 8 |  no change
Other or not sure | 10 | 7 |  −3
Belief in Hell | Believe | 62 | 59 |  −3
Don't believe | 24 | 30 |  +6
Other or not sure | 14 | 11 |  −3
Interpreting the Bible | Word of God to be taken literally word for word | 23 | 20 |  −3
Word of God, but not literally true word for word | 49 | 44 |  −5
Not the word of God | 20 | 29 |  +9
Don't know or other | 9 | 8 |  −1
Abortion | Should be legal in all/most cases | 61 | 65 |  +4
Should be illegal in all/most cases | 33 | 32 |  −1
Don't know | 7 | 2 |  −5
Homosexuality | Should be accepted | 56 | 73 |  +17
Should be discouraged: | 33 | 22 |  −11
Neither/other | 6 | 2 |  −4
Don't know | 5 | 2 |  −3

## Statistics

[edit]

Percent ELCA by state, 2010

Over 500,000 people have left the ELCA since the church's human sexuality decision in 2009.[58] Approximately 700 congregations have voted to withdraw from the ELCA, representing about 7 percent of its 2009 congregational membership. As of December 31, 2023, the ELCA has a baptized membership of 2,793,899 people.[3] In 2015, Pew Research estimated that 1.4 percent of the U.S. population, or roughly 4.4 million adherents, identify with the ELCA, which is moderately more than rostered membership suggests. Another 0.7 percent, or 2.2 million adherents, identify with mainline Lutheranism in general.[5] A number of members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are former Roman Catholics.[59] As of December 31, 2023, the ELCA has 8,498 congregations.[3]

## See also

[edit]

* Christianity portal
* United States portal

* Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod § Differences from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
* Protestantism in the United States
* Christianity in the United States
* List of ELCA synods

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "ELCA Constituting Convention". Archived from the original on November 2, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
2. ^ "ELCA Family History 1900s". Archived from the original on April 20, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
3. ^ a b c d e "Summary of Congregational Statistics as of 12/31/2023" (PDF). Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. August 26, 2024. p. 261. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
4. ^ David Neff. "'It's Not About the Past'". ChristianityToday.com. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
5. ^ a b "Religious Landscape Study". pewforum.org. Pew Research. Archived from the original on March 29, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
6. ^ "National Council of Churches USA". ncccusa.org. March 20, 2012. Archived from the original on August 30, 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2019.. As of 2012, churches with more members were the Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention, United Methodist Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church of God in Christ, and the National Baptist Convention, USA.
7. ^ "Quick Facts". ELCA. Archived from the original on October 26, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2007..
8. ^ "2023 Annual Report". Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
9. ^ "WELS ANNUAL REPORT 2022". Archived from the original on July 21, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
10. ^ "Full Communion Partners". ELCA.org. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
11. ^ a b c Lowell Almen, One Great Cloud of Witnesses, (Minneapolis:Augsburg Fortress, 1997) pp.9-12 for a brief recounting of the formation of the ELCA
12. ^ For laity, the figures were 70% LCA, 70% ALC, and 62% LCMS. Including clergy and laity, 4,745 Lutheran adults between the ages of 15 and 65 were surveyed. See Merton P. Strommen et al., A Study of Generations (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing, 1972), p. 283.
13. ^ "Roots of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America". Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Archived from the original on April 3, 2007.
14. ^ a b Nelson, E. Clifford. The Lutherans in North America Archived November 9, 2023, at the Wayback Machine. Revised ed. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1980. p. 509
15. ^ "ELCA Church Council appoints Michael Burk as presiding bishop pro tempore". Living Lutheran. November 15, 2023. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
16. ^ "Conference of Bishops". ELCA. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
17. ^ For further information about the ELCA's structure and organization, see 2005 ELCA Constitution Archived 2007-03-17 at the Wayback Machine (pdf document, retrieved March 27, 2007)
18. ^ See the Model Constitution for Congregations Archived 2007-03-17 at the Wayback Machine (retrieved March 27, 2007) - especially Chapter 5 "Powers of the Congregation" and Chapter 7 "Property Ownership".
19. ^ See also http://archive.elca.org/questions/ Archived October 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, "Essential Questions - Christianity and Lutheranism". Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved January 28, 2009. and http://archive.elca.org/communication/faith.html Archived September 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
20. ^ "Institute of Liturgical Studies". Valpo.edu. Valparaiso University. July 18, 2013. Archived from the original on December 5, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
21. ^ Cimino, Richard. Lutherans Today, Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 2003, 81-101.
22. ^ For more information on the history and current documents of the ELCA, look at other resources linked to the "About the ELCA" section of the [ELCA] http://www.elca.org Archived July 31, 2023, at the Wayback Machine Web site. See the series of essays, "With Confidence in God's Future" for more on ELCA's ecumenical outlook. Get it in [Word]http://archive.elca.org/communication/WithConfidence.doc Archived August 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, or [PDF]http://archive.elca.org/communication/WithConfidence.pdf Archived August 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine format.
23. ^ "the Bible". Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Archived from the original on August 29, 2008. Retrieved July 6, 2008.
24. ^ "Higher Criticism". Christian Cyclopedia. Archived from the original on October 18, 2009.
25. ^ "The Use of the Means of Grace - A Statement on the Practice of Word and Sacrament". Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. August 19, 1997. Archived from the original on October 15, 2009.
26. ^ The Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, Article 8, The Holy Supper, paragraph 38 Archived October 21, 2019, at the Wayback Machine.
27. ^ Cf. unaltered Augsburg Confession, Article 10: Of the Lord's Supper Archived August 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
28. ^ "Faith and Society". Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Archived from the original on November 25, 2013. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
29. ^ Kuruvilla, Carol (May 9, 2018). "Black Women Bishops Are Making History In This Predominantly White Church". HuffPost. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
30. ^ ELCA/ELCiC Celebrate New Hymnal. The Lutheran Hedgehog 1(5). Sept.-October 2006. p 6.
31. ^ a b "Summary - The Cooperative Clergy Study Project - Data Archive - The Association of Religion Data Archives". Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
32. ^ "Sexuality - Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust". Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Archived from the original on November 5, 2009.
33. ^ Luo, Michael; Capecchi, Christina (August 22, 2009). "Lutheran Group Eases Limits on Gay Clergy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 15, 2013. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
34. ^ Spring, Paull E. (September 4, 2009). "Update on Lutheran CORE's Convocation". Archived from the original on July 27, 2011.
35. ^ "A Vision and Plan for The North American Lutheran Church and Lutheran CORE, a community of confessing Lutherans". Lutheran CORE. February 18, 2010. Archived from the original on March 4, 2010.
36. ^ Jones, Robert P.; Cox, Daniel. "Mainline Protestant Clergy Views on Theology and Gay and Lesbian Issues: Findings from the 2008 Clergy Voices Survey" (PDF). p. 7\. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 21, 2010. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
37. ^ "Streit um homosexuelle Pfarrer". Archived from the original on July 19, 2011.
38. ^ Weber, Katherine (February 8, 2013). "Ethiopian Church Severs Ties With Lutherans Over Homosexuality". The Christian Post. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
39. ^ "ELCA Council Adopts Significant Revisions to Ministry Policies" (Press release). Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. April 11, 2010. Archived from the original on April 29, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
40. ^ "Financial Reports". Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Archived from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
41. ^ "Lutheran assembly elects first openly gay bishop". The Virginian-Pilot. June 1, 2013. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
42. ^ "Meet the First Trans Pastor Officially Ordained by the Evangelical Lutheran Church". July 6, 2015. Archived from the original on August 13, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
43. ^ "ELCA presiding bishop offers letter on Supreme Court marriage ruling". elca.org. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
44. ^ "Same-sex unions accepted by Evangelican Lutherans". Archived from the original on June 30, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
45. ^ Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Draft Social Statement on Genetics to be considered by the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, March 2010, http://www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/Social-Issues/Social-Statements-in-Process/Genetics/Draft-Social-Statement.aspx Archived March 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
46. ^ a b Lewis D. Eigen, "Rights & Protections of Coming Human Clones: A Remarkable Lutheran View", Scriptamus, March 19, 2010, http://scriptamus.wordpress.com/2010/03/19/rights-protections-of-coming-human-clones-a-remarkable-lutheran-view/#more-475 Archived June 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
47. ^ "Abortion". Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. September 4, 1991. Archived from the original on March 27, 2009.
48. ^ Pulpit and Politics: Clergy in American Politics at the Advent of the Millennium edited by Corwin E. Smidt
49. ^ "The Lord Is with You" – A Word of Counsel to the Church on the Sanctity of Nascent Life", Joint Commission on Theology and Doctrine of the North American Lutheran Church and Lutheran CORE, December 14, 2012[permanent dead link‍]
50. ^ "End of Life Decisions". Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. November 9, 1992. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
51. ^ Information on the Division's work and the various types of rostered ministry can be found at the Division's webpage Archived February 7, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.
52. ^ a b "Consecration to the Ministry of Word and Service" (PDF). ELCA. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 22, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
53. ^ "Full Communion Partners: History". Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
54. ^ Weber, Katherine (February 8, 2013). "Ethiopian Church Severs Ties With Lutherans Over Homosexuality". The Christian Post. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
55. ^ Francis, Perry C. Baldo, Tracy D. (1998) Narcissistic Measures of Lutheran Clergy Who Self-Reported Committing Sexual Misconduct Pastoral Psychology 47 Issue 2 pp. 81-96 Archived November 9, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
56. ^ p. 86 Honoring Our Neighbor's Faith, Robert Buckley Farlee (ed.), Chicago: Augsburg Fortress, 1999. ISBN 0-8066-3846-X
57. ^ a b c d "Religious Landscape Study". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. June 13, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
58. ^ Dias, Elizabeth (August 18, 2013). "Meet the Woman Who Will Lead Evangelical Lutherans: 'Religious but Not Spiritual'". Time. Archived from the original on August 20, 2013. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
59. ^ Freier, Luisa Feline (2009). "How Our Lady of Guadalupe Became Lutheran: Latin American Migration and Religious Change". Migraciones Internacionales. 5 (2). SciELO.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Bodensieck, Julius, ed. The encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church (3 vol 1965) vol 1 and 3 online free
* Brauer, James Leonard and Fred L. Precht, eds. Lutheran Worship: History and Practice (1993)
* Granquist, Mark. Lutherans in America: A New History (2015)
* Meyer, Carl S. Moving Frontiers: Readings in the History of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (1986)
* Roeber, A. G. Palatines, Liberty, and Property: German Lutherans in Colonial British America (1998)
* Trexler, Edgar R. Anatomy of a Merger: People, Dynamics, and Decisions That Shaped the ELCA (1992)
* Wengert, Timothy J. and Mark Granquist, eds. Dictionary of Luther and the Lutheran Traditions (2017)
* Wolf, Edmund Jacob. The Lutherans in America; a story of struggle, progress, influence and marvelous growth. New York: J.A. Hill. 1889. A history of many of the bodies that merged to form the ELCA.
* About the Concordat: 28 Questions about the Agreement between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Church of America [i.e. the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]. Cincinnati, Ohio: Forward Movement Publications, [1997?]. 43 p. Without ISBN
* A Commentary on [the Episcopal Church/Evangelical Lutheran Church in America] Concordat of Agreement, ed. by James E. Griffes and Daniel Martensen. Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg-Fortress; Cincinnati, Ohio: Forward Movement Publications, 1994. 159 p. ISBN 0-8066-2690-9
* Concordat of Agreement [between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]: Supporting Essays, ed. by Daniel F. Martensen. Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg-Fortress; Cincinnati, Ohio: Forward Movement Publications, 1995. 234 p. ISBN 0-8066-2667-4

## External links

[edit]

* Denominational website
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's channel on YouTube
* Profile on the Association of Religion Data Archives website

* v
* t
* e

Lutheran World Federation

Africa

Central and Eastern Africa

| Democratic Republic of the Congo|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Congo

|

Eritrea|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea

Ethiopia|

* Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus

Kenya|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya
* Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church

Madagascar|

* Malagasy Lutheran Church

Rwanda|

* Lutheran Church of Rwanda

Tanzania|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania

Southern Africa

| Angola|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Angola

|

Botswana|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Botswana

Malawi|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi

Mozambique|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mozambique

Namibia|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK)

South Africa|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (Cape Church)
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (N-T)
* Moravian Church in South Africa

Zambia|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zambia

Zimbabwe|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe

Western Africa

| Cameroon|

* Church of the Lutheran Brethren of Cameroon
* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon

|

Central African Republic|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Central African Republic

Republic of Congo|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Congo

Ghana|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana

Liberia|

* Lutheran Church in Liberia

Nigeria|

* The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria
* The Lutheran Church of Nigeria

Senegal|

* The Lutheran Church of Senegal

Sierra Leone|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sierra Leone

Asia and Pacific

North East Asia

| China – Hong Kong|

* Hong Kong and Macau Lutheran Church
* Chinese Rhenish Church Hong Kong Synod
* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hong Kong
* Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong

|

Taiwan|

* Taiwan Lutheran Church
* Lutheran Church of the Republic of China

Japan|

* Japan Lutheran Church
* Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church
* Kinki Evangelical Lutheran Church

South Korea|

* Lutheran Church in Korea

West and South Asia

| Bangladesh|

* Bangladesh Lutheran Church
* Bangladesh Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church

|

Georgia|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States

India|

* Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church
* Arcot Lutheran Church
* Bodo Evangelical Lutheran Church
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Madhya Pradesh
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Himalayan States
* Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church
* Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chotanagpur and Assam
* India Evangelical Lutheran Church
* Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church
* Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church
* South Andhra Lutheran Church
* Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church

Israel|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land

Jordan|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land

Kazakhstan|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States

Kyrgyzstan|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States

Myanmar|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Myanmar
* Lutheran Church of Myanmar
* Myanmar Lutheran Church
* Mara Evangelical Church

Nepal|

* Nepal Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church

Palestinian territories|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land

Sri Lanka|

* Lanka Lutheran Church

Uzbekistan|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States

South East Asia

| Australia|

* Lutheran Church of Australia

|

Indonesia|

* Batak Christian Community Church
* Christian Communion of Indonesia Church in Nias
* Christian Protestant Church in Indonesia
* Angkola Protestant Christian Church
* Indonesian Christian Lutheran Church
* Pakpak Dairi Christian Protestant Church
* Protestant Christian Batak Church
* Protestant Christian Church
* Protestant Christian Church in Mentawai
* Simalungun Protestant Christian Church
* United Protestant Church

Malaysia|

* Basel Christian Church of Malaysia
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia
* Lutheran Church in Malaysia
* Protestant Church in Sabah

Papua New Guinea|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea
* Gutnius Lutheran Church

Philippines|

* Lutheran Church in the Philippines

Singapore|

* Lutheran Church in Singapore

Thailand|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thailand

Europe

| Austria|

* Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria

|

Belarus|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States

Belgium|

* Lutheran Church of Belgium: Arlon and Christian Mission

Croatia|

* Evangelical Church in the Republic of Croatia

Czech Republic|

* Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren
* Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession

Denmark|

* Church of Denmark

Estonia|

* Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church

Finland|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

France|

* Union of Protestant Churches of Alsace and Lorraine
* United Protestant Church of France
* Malagasy Protestant Church in France

Germany|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baden
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick
* Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover
* Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad
* Church of Lippe (Lutheran classis)
* Evangelical Church in Middle Germany
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg
* Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony
* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schaumburg-Lippe
* Lutheran Church in Württemberg

Hungary|

* Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary

Iceland|

* Church of Iceland

Ireland|

* Lutheran Church in Ireland

Italy|

* Lutheran Evangelical Church in Italy

Latvia|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia

Lithuania|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lithuania

Netherlands|

* Protestant Church in the Netherlands

Norway|

* Church of Norway
* Evangelical Lutheran Free Church of Norway

Poland|

* Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland

Romania|

* Evangelical Church of Augustan Confession in Romania
* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Romania

Russia|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States
* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia

Serbia|

* Slovak Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Serbia

Slovakia|

* Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia

Slovenia|

* Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovenia

Sweden|

* Church of Sweden

Switzerland|

* Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein

Ukraine|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States

United Kingdom|

* Lutheran Church in Great Britain
* The Lutheran Council of Great Britain

Latin America and the Caribbean

Central America and the Caribbean

| Costa Rica|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Costa Rica
* Costa Rican Lutheran Church

|

El Salvador|

* Salvadoran Lutheran Church

Guatemala|

* Evangelical Lutheran Congregation "La Epifania"

Honduras|

* Christian Lutheran Church of Honduras

Mexico|

* German-Speaking Evangelical Congregation in Mexico
* Mexican Lutheran Church

Nicaragua|

* Nicaraguan Lutheran Church of Faith and Hope

South America

| Argentina|

* Evangelical Church of the River Plate
* United Evangelical Lutheran Church

|

Bolivia|

* Bolivian Evangelical Lutheran Church
* German Speaking Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in Bolivia

Brazil|

* Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil

Chile|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile
* Lutheran Church in Chile

Colombia|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Colombia
* St. Martin's Lutheran Congregation
* St. Matthew's Lutheran Church

Ecuador|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ecuador

Guyana|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana

Peru|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Peru
* Peruvian Lutheran Evangelical Church

Suriname|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Suriname

Venezuela|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Venezuela

North America

| Canada|

* Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

|

United States|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

* v
* t
* e

Mainline Protestant denominations

United States

"Seven Sisters"|

* American Baptist Churches USA
* Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
* Episcopal Church
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
* Presbyterian Church (USA)
* United Methodist Church
* United Church of Christ

Others|

* Alliance of Baptists
* Church of the Brethren
* Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
* Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad
* Hungarian Reformed Church in America
* International Council of Community Churches
* Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
* Mennonite Church USA
* Moravian Church in North America
* National Association of Congregational Christian Churches
* Reformed Church in America
* Religious Society of Friends
* Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches

African-American|

* African Methodist Episcopal Church
* African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
* Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

Ecumenical|

* Churches Uniting in Christ
* Consultation on Church Union (defunct)

Canada

* Anglican Church of Canada
* Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Canada
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
* Mennonite Church Canada
* Moravian Church in North America
* Presbyterian Church in Canada
* United Church of Canada

* v
* t
* e

National Council of Churches (NCC)

Mainline Protestant · Eastern Orthodoxy · Black church · Evangelicalism · Peace churches

Member
churches|

| Protestant|

| Baptist|

* Alliance of Baptists
* American Baptist Churches USA
* National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
* National Missionary Baptist Convention of America
* Progressive National Baptist Convention

|

Lutheran|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Moravian|

* Moravian Church in North America (Northern and Southern Provinces)
* Religious Society of Friends (Friends United Meeting and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting)

Methodist|

* African Methodist Episcopal Church
* African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
* Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
* United Methodist Church

Reformed|

* Hungarian Reformed Church in America
* Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad
* Mar Thoma Church
* Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
* Reformed Church in America
* United Church of Christ

Other|

* Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
* Church of the Brethren
* Episcopal Church

Orthodox|

| Eastern|

* Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
* Orthodox Church in America
* Russian Orthodox Patriarchal Parishes in the USA
* Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America
* Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA

|

Oriental|

* Armenian Church of America (Eastern and Western Dioceses)
* Coptic Orthodox Archdiocese of North America
* Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (American Diocese)
* Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch (Archdiocese of the Eastern United States)

Catholic|

* Assyrian Church of the East
* Ecumenical Catholic Communion
* Polish National Catholic Church

Other|

* International Council of Community Churches
* Community of Christ
* Swedenborgian Church of North America

History|

* Federal Council of Churches

Publishing
and research|

* Revised Standard Version
* New Revised Standard Version
* Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches

List of members

* v
* t
* e

World Council of Churches (WCC)

Ecumenism

African-initiated

Africa|

* Africa Brotherhood Church
* African Christian Church & Schools
* African Church of the Holy Spirit
* African Israel Church Nineveh
* Church of Christ - Harris Mission (Harrist Church)
* Church of Christ Light of the Holy Spirit
* Council of African Instituted Churches of Southern Africa
* The African Church
* Church of the Lord (Aladura)
* The First African Church Mission

Anglicanism

Africa|

* Anglican Church of Burundi
* Anglican Church of Kenya
* Anglican Church of Rwanda
* Anglican Church of Southern Africa
* Anglican Church of Tanzania
* Church of Christ in Congo - Anglican Community of Congo
* Church of Nigeria
* Church of the Province of Central Africa
* Church of the Province of West Africa
* Church of Uganda
* Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria
* Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan
* Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan

Asia|

* Anglican Church in Japan
* Anglican Church of Korea
* Church of Ceylon
* Church of the Province of Myanmar
* Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean
* Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East
* Episcopal Church in the Philippines

Europe|

* Church in Wales
* Church of England
* Church of Ireland
* Lusitanian Church of Portugal
* Scottish Episcopal Church
* Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church

North America|

* Anglican Church of Canada
* Episcopal Church

Latin America|

* Anglican Church of South America
* Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil

Oceania|

* Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
* Anglican Church of Australia
* Anglican Church of Melanesia

Assyrian Church

Global|

* Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East

Baptists

Africa|

* Association of Baptist Churches in Rwanda
* Baptist Community of Congo
* Community of Baptist Churches in Central Africa
* Baptist Evangelical Church in Angola
* Episcopal Baptist Community in Africa
* Native Baptist Church of Cameroon
* Nigerian Baptist Convention
* Union of Baptist Churches of Cameroon

Asia|

* Bangladesh Baptist Church Sangha
* Bengal Orissa Bihar Baptist Convention
* Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches
* Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India
* Myanmar Baptist Convention
* Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches

Europe|

* Baptist Union of Denmark
* Baptist Union of Great Britain
* Baptist Union of Hungary
* Baptist Evangelical Christian Union of Italy

North America|

* American Baptist Churches USA
* National Baptist Convention of America International, Inc.
* National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
* Progressive National Baptist Convention

Latin America|

* Jamaica Baptist Union
* Baptist Convention of Haiti
* Baptist Association of El Salvador
* Baptist Convention of Nicaragua

Oceania|

* Baptist Union of New Zealand

Disciples of Christ & Christian Churches

Africa|

* Church of Christ in Congo - Community of Disciples of Christ in Congo

Asia|

* United Reformed Church

North America|

* Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Canada
* Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States

Latin America|

* Evangelical Church of the Disciples of Christ in Argentina

Oceania|

* Christian Churches New Zealand
* Churches of Christ in Australia

Eastern Orthodoxy

Africa|

* Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa

Eastern Asia|

* Orthodox Church in Japan

Europe & Western Asia|

* Ecumenical Patriarchate
* Church of Cyprus
* Church of Greece
* Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East
* Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
* Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania
* Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia
* Orthodox Church of Finland
* Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church
* Romanian Orthodox Church
* Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
* Serbian Orthodox Church

North America|

* Orthodox Church in America

Evangelical

Africa|

* African Inland Church of South Sudan and Sudan

Asia|

* Lao Evangelical Church

Lutheranism

Africa|

* Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Congo
* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe
* Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church
* Lutheran Church in Liberia
* Malagasy Lutheran Church

Asia|

* Batak Christian Community Church
* Christian Protestant Angkola Church
* Christian Protestant Church in Indonesia
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea
* The Indonesian Christian Church
* Protestant Christian Church of Nias
* Protestant Christian Batak Church
* Protestant Church in Sabah
* Simalungun Protestant Christian Church
* United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India

Europe|

* Church of Norway
* Church of Sweden
* Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church
* Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland
* Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania
* Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary
* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland
* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia
* Evangelical Lutheran Church of Romania
* Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad
* Protestant Church in Germany
* Bavaria
* Brunswick
* Central Germany
* Hanover
* Northern Germany
* Oldenburg
* Saxony
* Schaumburg-Lippe
* Württemberg

* Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession
* Slovak Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Serbia

North America|

* Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Latin America|

* Bolivian Evangelical Lutheran Church
* Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile
* Salvadorean Lutheran Synod
* United Evangelical Lutheran Church

Mar Thoma Church

Global|

* Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar

Methodism

Africa|

* Methodist Church Ghana
* Methodist Church in Kenya
* Methodist Church in Zimbabwe
* Methodist Church Nigeria
* United Methodist Church of Ivory Coast

Asia|

* Evangelical Methodist Church in the Philippine Islands
* Korean Methodist Church
* Methodist Church in India
* Methodist Church in Indonesia
* Methodist Church in Malaysia
* Methodist Church in Singapore
* Methodist Church in Sri Lanka
* Methodist Church, Upper Myanmar
* Protestant Methodist Church in Benin

Europe|

* Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy
* Methodist Church
* Methodist Church in Ireland

North America|

* African Methodist Episcopal Church
* African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
* Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
* United Methodist Church

Latin America|

* Evangelical Methodist Church in Argentina
* Evangelical Methodist Church in Bolivia
* Methodist Church in Brazil
* Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas
* Methodist Church in Chile
* Methodist Church in Mexico

Oceania|

* Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga
* Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma

Moravian and Historic Peace Churches

Africa|

* Church of the Brethren in Nigeria
* Moravian Church in South Africa
* Moravian Church in Tanzania

Asia|

* Philippine Independent Church

Europe|

* Mennonite Church in the Netherlands
* Moravian Church in Western Europe

North America|

* Canadian Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
* Church of the Brethren
* Moravian Church in America
* Polish National Catholic Church
* Religious Society of Friends: Friends General Conference
* Religious Society of Friends: Friends United Meeting

Latin America|

* Moravian Church, Eastern West Indies Province
* Moravian Church in Jamaica
* Moravian Church in Nicaragua
* Moravian Church in Suriname

Old-Catholic

Europe|

* Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany
* Old Catholic Church of Austria
* Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands
* Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
* Old Catholic Mariavite Church in Poland
* Polish Catholic Church in Poland

Pentecostal

Africa|

* Evangelical Pentecostal Mission of Angola
* Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa

North America|

* International Evangelical Church

Latin America|

* Association The Church of God
* Christian Biblical Church
* Free Pentecostal Missions Church of Chile
* Pentecostal Church of Chile
* Pentecostal Mission Church

Oriental Orthodoxy

Africa|

* Coptic Orthodox Church
* Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church
* Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

Eastern Asia|

* Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

Europe & Western Asia|

* Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East
* Armenian Apostolic Church (Holy See of Cilicia)
* Armenian Apostolic Church (Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin)

Reformed

Africa|

* African Protestant Church
* Association of Reformed Evangelical Church of Burkina Faso
* Church of Central Africa Presbyterian – Blantyre Synod
* Evangelical Community in Congo
* Presbyterian Community in Congo
* Presbyterian Community in Kinshasa
* Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar
* Evangelical Church of Cameroon
* Evangelical Church of Congo
* Evangelical Church of Gabon
* Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola
* Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana
* Evangelical Presbyterian Church in South Africa
* Evangelical Church of Egypt (Synod of the Nile)
* Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Togo
* Evangelical Reformed Church of Angola
* Lesotho Evangelical Church
* Presbyterian Church in Cameroon
* Presbyterian Church in Rwanda
* Presbyterian Church of Africa
* Presbyterian Church of Cameroon
* Presbyterian Church of East Africa
* Presbyterian Church of Ghana
* Presbyterian Church in Liberia
* Presbyterian Church of Mozambique
* Presbyterian Church of Nigeria
* Presbyterian Church of South Sudan
* Protestant Church of Algeria
* Reformed Church in Zambia
* Reformed Church in Zimbabwe
* Reformed Church of Christ for Nations
* Reformed Presbyterian Church of Equatorial Guinea

Asia|

* Central Sulawesi Christian Church
* Christian Church of Sumba
* Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa
* Christian Evangelical Church in Sangihe-Talaud
* Church of Christ in Thailand
* Church of North India
* Church of Pakistan
* Church of South India
* East Java Christian Church
* Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera
* Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Iran
* Evangelical Church in Kalimantan
* Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China
* Indonesian Christian Church Synod
* Javanese Christian Churches
* Karo Batak Protestant Church
* Korean Christian Church in Japan
* Mara Evangelical Church
* National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon
* Pasundan Christian Church
* Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
* Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea
* Presbyterian Church of Korea
* Presbyterian Church of Pakistan
* Protestant Christian Church in Bali
* Protestant Church in Indonesia
* Protestant Church in Southeast Sulawesi
* Protestant Church in the Moluccas
* Protestant Church in Western Indonesia
* Protestant Church in East Timor
* Protestant Evangelical Church in Timor
* Toraja Church

Europe|

* Church of Scotland
* Czechoslovak Hussite Church
* Dutch Reformed Church
* Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren
* Evangelical Church of the Augsburg and Helvetic Confessions in Austria
* Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Portugal
* Greek Evangelical Church
* Presbyterian Church of Wales
* Protestant Church in Germany
* Church of Lippe
* Evangelical Reformed Church in Germany

* Protestant Church in the Netherlands
* Protestant Church of Switzerland
* Reformed Christian Church in Serbia
* Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia
* Reformed Church in Hungary
* Reformed Church in Romania
* Remonstrant Brotherhood
* Spanish Evangelical Church

North America|

* Hungarian Reformed Church in America
* Presbyterian Church in Canada
* Presbyterian Church (USA)
* Reformed Church in America

Latin America|

* Evangelical Church of the River Plate
* Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil
* Presbyterian Church of Colombia
* Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago
* Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba

Oceania|

* Congregational Christian Church in American Samoa
* Congregational Christian Church in Samoa
* Congregational Christian Church of Niue
* Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu
* Evangelical Church in New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands
* Kiribati Uniting Church
* Maohi Protestant Church
* Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand
* Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu

United christianity

Africa|

* United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe
* United Church of Zambia
* United Congregational Church of Southern Africa
* Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa
* Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa

Asia|

* China Christian Council
* Church of Bangladesh
* Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East
* United Church of Christ in Japan
* United Church of Christ in the Philippines

Europe|

* Protestant Church in Germany
* Bremen
* Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Oberlausitz
* Rhineland
* Anhalt
* Kurhessen-Waldeck
* Palatinate
* Westphalia
* Baden
* Hesse and Nassau
* Union of Protestant Churches of Alsace and Lorraine
* Union of Welsh Independents
* United Free Church of Scotland
* United Protestant Church in Belgium
* United Protestant Church of France
* Uniting Church in Sweden
* Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches

North America|

* International Council of Community Churches
* United Church of Canada
* United Church of Christ

Latin America|

* United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands
* United Presbyterian Church of Brazil
* United Protestant Church of Curaçao

Oceania|

* United Church in Papua New Guinea
* United Church in the Solomon Islands
* United Church of Christ - Congregational in the Marshall Islands
* Uniting Church in Australia

Africa
AACC
OAIC
Asia
CCA
NCCA
NCCP
MECC
PCC
Europe
CEC
CCCAAE
Latin America
CCC
LACC
North America
CCE
NCC

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* 2

National|

* United States
* 2
* Israel

Other|

* IdRef

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template